As Gov. Pat McCrory is scheduled to be in Shelby on Friday for a major jobs announcement, more information is emerging linking state Republicans who are against the county's proposed Native American destination resort to the only other such facility in the state.

Touting its economic impact on the region, the state GOP announced this week plans to host its 2014 convention at Harrah's Cherokee.

"Harrah's is a model for economic development by providing over 5,000 jobs for the community without any state incentives," N.C. GOP Chairman Claude Pope wrote as part of the announcement statement.

The event is scheduled for June 6-8.

"We concure wholeheartedly with the decision," said David Dear, of the Cleveland County Economic Development Parntership. "But we're a little disillusioned as to why they think we can't duplicate that in Cleveland County."

In recent weeks, The Star has reported on proposed plans by the Catawba Indian Nation to build a destination resort off I-85 in Kings Mountain that would include a 1,500-room hotel. Construction is said to employ 5,000 workers, while 4,000 additional positions would be created following construction. As with Cherokee, no local or state incentives are being offered to the Catawba.

Several state Republicans have been vocal against the project since information was first released in August. According to political spending website followthemoney.org, those same politicians received thousands of dollars in donations from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who own and operate Harrah's Cherokee. That includes Gov. McCrory, who was quoted recently as saying he saw no justification to allow the project to happen.

In September, more than 100 state legislators signed a document voicing their disapproval of the plans.

"This is a U.S. Department of the Interior decision and I think a lot of people are missing this point," Rep. Kelly Hastings (R-110) told The Star at that time. "Legally, it doesn't matter what the General Assembly thinks."

As a Kings Mountain attorney, Rep. Tim Moore (R-111) represents some of the parties involved in the resort plans.

The federal project is currently in the hands of the Department of the Interior, who will decide whether to place the land into federal trust to be turned over to the Catawba Indian Nation. McCrory could, once the land is in trust, sign a compact with the tribe which would enter the state into a revenue sharing partnership with the tribe.

Critics of the project, like House Speaker Pro Tem Skip Stam (R) have been quoted as saying the proposed project in Cleveland County would generate "10 times as much gambling" as Harrah's Cherokee due to its proximity to a major interstate.

Harrah's currently attracts visitors from as far as the metro areas of Charlotte, Asheville, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Atlanta, Nashville, Tenn., and Knoxville, Tenn.

What could the resort mean for Cleveland County? Harrah's Cherokee by the numbers: